Until the Stars Fall From the Sky
by Basikilos
Summary: A poor child in the slums, Lon'qu is left to fend for himself and his mother after his father's death. Alone in an uncaring world, he manages to earn a living through the heated violence of the arenas, not daring to hope for a better life. But one day, a fateful meeting begins a relationship that will change Lon'qu forever. My take on the story of Lon'qu and Ke'ri!
1. Chapter 1

It is customary for the Chon'sin people to make a vow during the wedding ceremony. After the priest has said his lines, the bride and the groom repeat the same words, the bride speaking first and the groom after.

_With Naga's holy blessing and Tiki's divine grace_

_Beyond the edges of the earth and the reaches of heaven_

_Until the sun swallows the moon and the stars fall from the sky_

_I promise to love you always_

Afterwards, two red ribbons held by the bride and groom are tied together in a knot, symbolizing their eternal devotion to one another.

There is no such thing as divorce or remarriage in Chon'sin society.

* * *

Just beyond the stone wall, the girl was singing.

Lon'qu knew this because he could hear her beautiful voice, echoing over the divide that separated them both. He also knew that she was the reason why he always took the miles-long detour from the market to his home back in the slums, though he had told his mother that the sights were more beautiful and the travelers easier to pickpocket. He fingered the smooth coins that he clutched in his hands. The pickings had been good today, and hopefully, enough to earn his mother a well-deserved rest. Rarely did she spend a waking moment without working.

Lon'qu also knew that the girl was the daughter of the prestigious consulate member, Shuo'li. This was easily distinguishable by the enormous family crest that hung above the crimson gates that flanked the rock-hewn wall. It was visible even from the back of the castle, where the back road he took snaked through sparsely scattered trees and brush.

He knew that a girl of her stature would never stoop so low as to even glance at one of the lower class, yet such heavy knowledge did not dim his spirits, for her singing was so lovely. The notes floated far above the filthy squalor of the dirt road he treaded, and – he imagined fancifully – straight towards the heavens above.

And abruptly, the song ended far too soon for his liking. The final melody lingered in the still air and soon its echo was lost in the silence. Lon'qu quickly folded his thoughts away and headed back towards his home. His mother would scold him again if he dawdled for too long. Night had fallen long ago, and the moon had almost reached the center of the sky.

There was no scolding that had to be done. His mother simply sat there, hands worn from a day of washing rough cloth, a gray strand of hair hanging limply in front of the face that held too many wrinkles for one so youthful, waiting. A lance of guilt pierced through Lon'qu's heart.

He smoothed over the blankets that covered her bed and plumped the pillow with his deft hands – a motion that he had done over and over again before. "You should have gone to sleep earlier. It is bad for your health, staying up so late."

"I was worried," she replied simply.

The guilty ache intensified. "I am back now, and there was no need to worry," Lon'qu said. "Now please, mother. Rest."

"But there is," she responded. "Lon'qu, I know what you are doing in town. Every day, I worry that you might not return to me, and every day, I cannot sleep until you return home."

Lon'qu winced. He had not known that she had finally discovered how he had been making the extra gold every day, and now she had one more thing to worry about. "I know my limits, mother. Trust me. I will never stay in a fight that I know I cannot win."

"I hope you do. My dear, sweet, only child, my heart would break if anything happened to you," she said as she tenderly stroked his face. Her hands felt like sandpaper, Lon'qu thought. He felt like a failure of a son, unable to provide for his mother.

"Please," Lon'qu said again, and the words he did not want to speak were conveyed by the emotion that struggled and succeeded in barely breaking through his deceivingly calm voice.

She nodded wearily, the creases of her eyes deepening as she lay down, joints creaking with protest. Soon, she was breathing quietly with the rhythmic tempo that only comes with sleep.

Lon'qu wrapped himself in the threadworn blankets that lay against the wall opposite the bed. A creature scurried by his head, but Lon'qu paid it no heed. The mice would be hard-pressed to find a crumb anywhere in this household where every grain of rice was as precious as gold. The floor was hard, but comfortable now that he had gotten used to it. And besides, sleeping on the floor was said to be good for one's back.

* * *

A/N: Meeeep. Why do things that look so long in word processors turn out so short on FFn!? Boo. Also I've finally conquered the alphabet. Now to finish all my pending fanfics...


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, he resolved that today would be the last day he took the detour. The opportunity to hear a girl's singing was not worth the concern it had brought his mother. So he told himself, over and over and over again. It was not worth the guilt he felt, the hours he wasted when he could be fighting in the arena, the sleepless nights of worry it brought his mother.

And besides, he thought bitterly, it seemed like she wasn't even singing today. All that for nothing. He knew it was silly of him to presume that she would sing every day, but still he lingered outside the stone wall for a few minutes, hoping that she would begin.

A round and hard object hit the back of his head. Whipping around, annoyed, he caught a glimpse of an acorn falling to the ground. He searched for his attacker, eyes scanning the dense grove of trees that lay beyond the path.

"Hey! You!" Lon'qu glanced upwards, immediately identifying the owner of the unmistakably female voice, who was partially hidden by tree branches. At the same time, another acorn struck him on the chest, bouncing off harmlessly, but still, _she was throwing acorns at him_.

Ignore it, he thought to himself. Causing a scene near consulate Shuo'li's mansion was something that should be avoided at all costs. He whispered a muted curse beneath his breath and stepped away from the grove, heading back home.

He heard another acorn fall short of its mark. He was too far away for her limited range, it seemed. "Hey! I'm talking to you, can't you hear me?" Clearly, the girl didn't know when to give up. Lon'qu quickened his pace, beginning a steady jog. If he ran, he'd be able to get home before sunset.

"Where are you going?" The persistent voice kept calling. "Don't make me climb down this tree!" Probably an empty threat, Lon'qu mused. Hopefully she wouldn't actually try to jump off of the branch that she had been precariously perched – there was a muffled yell, then a thump. Lon'qu sighed and turned around.

His former attacker lay on the ground, moaning piteously and clutching at her right foot. She paused for a second and glanced around to see if she had an audience to play to. Noticing his gaze, she snapped at him. "Are you just going to stand there and gawk at me? Come help! Can't you tell I'm in pain?"

"Not enough pain to render you speechless, clearly," Lon'qu retorted. He didn't have _time_ for this girl's silly melodrama. It was her fault for being in the tree in the first place, and her fault for trying to get down so quickly. He was under absolutely no obligation to stay and serve as a crutch to test her injured ankle, massage the purpling bruise, and help her hobble to the gates of the mansion.

Of course, so he told himself as he did exactly that. He was simply doing this out of the goodness of his own heart. The gate was slightly ajar – judging by her style of dress and her impertinent manner, she was probably a lowly servant in the mansion who had snuck out to play. Lon'qu paused in his step, thinking furiously. This meant that she probably knew Shuo'li's daughter.

"What's up?" She peered at him curiously – far too close for his comfort. "Why'd you stop walking?"

"Haven't you heard of something called personal space?" Lon'qu replied.

"Hmph. Fine," she stuck out her tongue. "Don't answer my question."

That clearly thrown gauntlet did not dignify a response, he decided. He had gotten her to the gates safely, and from there on, it was up to her to get the care and rest that her ankle needed. He spun around and began to walk away.

"H-hey! Is that all?" she yelled at him. He prayed that she would not stumble again or injure himself before he got far enough to pretend that he couldn't hear.

Thankfully, his prayer succeeded and he managed to escape hearing range of her undignified shouts. Treading the long, winding path back to his home, he resolved that he most _definitely_ would not be returning to Shuo'li's mansion again.

* * *

Back at the gates of the mansion, the girl limped towards her room, trying to avoid being caught. Once there, she sat down heavily on her bed and flopped herself backwards to stare at the ceiling.

"Ugh," Ke'ri said. "That turned out great."

* * *

A/N: The fateful meeting! ...didn't go so well, haha.


	3. Chapter 3

After the fiasco with the girl, Lon'qu remained far away from the mansion. His life fell into a repetitive pattern – a trek to the arena each morning, three or four fights, a small snack he had either stolen or begged for, a few more fights - and when he was too tired to continue - a bowl of porridge and a long walk home. He knew not too push his limits too far, lest he run into some gold-hungry bandits looking for easy prey on his way home.

Slowly but surely, the gold he had earned from the arena was building up. Perhaps they would be able to move out of the slums – maybe in a year or two. Lon'qu was still young, and unless he sustained an injury, he was certain that he could keep up his record in the arenas.

He slid a whetstone down the grimy sword he carried. He had just finished his third fight of the day, and was preparing to start the fourth. Going up to the arena master again, he nodded at the ring.

"I'm ready for another fight."

The arena master smiled mirthlessly. "Your next opponent will be a level 15 Myrmidon, and I want you to wager 860 gold. Are you up to that?" He jerked a thumb in the direction of where the myrmidon sat, waiting to be matched with a challenger.

Lon'qu absentmindedly fingered the gold coins in his pocket. It would be a riskier wager, but it would pay off if he succeeded. However, his arms felt sore and his legs a little leaden from his past bouts, so he decided that it might be better to err on the side of safety. "I'll pass on this one," he replied. "Got anybody else?"

The arena master sighed. "That's a pity. All your fights tend to be so one-sided that the audience gets bored. Well, I have two more challengers. The next one is a level 10 Mage, and your wager will be 610 gold. Does that sound like a deal?"

Though the mage had the benefit of long-range damage, Lon'qu was fairly sure that with his speed and intuition, he'd be able to dodge and close the distance in order to get to closer fighting quarters. And besides, his opponent was only level 10. "It's a deal."

He entered the arena and waited for the starting horn to sound. He was surprised to see that his opponent was younger than he was – for the past few years, Lon'qu had always held the title of the youngest contender. Maybe his opponent was a brash merchant's son trying to prove himself to other boys. Or more likely, a nobleman's son. Not many commoners had the chance to learn magic. It would be easy pickings, then. The boy would yield after a few tastes of pain, and he would go home 610 gold pieces richer.

The horn sounded, and Lon'qu leaped forward noiselessly, throwing himself at his opponent. Under other circumstances, he would have tried to feel out his opponent's skill level first, circling and feinting, but he hoped that this approach would startle the boy into losing his wits. Lon'qu saw the surprise in the boy's eyes as he stumbled backwards while simultaneously casting a spell, trying to maintain the distance between them. Lon'qu arced his blade through the air, slicing through the mage's clothing and glancing off the flesh of his upper arm. Not hard enough to permanently injure, but enough to cause the mage to cry out in pain. Lon'qu winced at how _young_ the boy sounded. He would never understand why mages wore so little armor. He had passed the mage now, having underestimated the time it would have taken him to slow down. Circling back around for another hit, Lon'qu raised his sword once more. The mage had almost finished casting now - Lon'qu had to keep alert - an elfire spell – there! Lon'qu dodged it with ease. The mage was defenseless for now, and Lon'qu pressed his sword against the boy's throat.

"Going to yield?" he asked.

The boy ignored him and began another incantation.

Lon'qu increased the pressure, and a bright bead of ruby-red blood appeared, adorning the mage's slender neck. Life was so fragile, Lon'qu thought. Still the boy said nothing. Frustrated, Lon'qu shouted at the boy. "Do you want to die, then? Give up!"

The boy squeezed his eyes shut and continued muttering. If Lon'qu did not act soon, the next spell would hit him at point-blank range. He grit his teeth together, thinking. He couldn't wait much longer or else he'd be seriously injured. He'd have to kill the foolish child. He'd killed before, but those had mostly been brash men drunk on alcohol and arrogance.

He never realized his sword had been so _slippery_. His palms were coated in sweat as he prepared to strike the finishing blow. And as he tightened his grip, he took in the boy's appearance and looked at him for the first time. Not as a mere enemy to defeat and conquer, but as a fellow human. It had been so long since Lon'qu had thought of an opponent in the ring as another living being, and with good reason. It was too hard to fight opponents wholeheartedly when Lon'qu thought of the loved ones who would mourn if they were killed.

The boy's clothes were in tatters. His spellbook was well-worn, filled with dog-eared pages. Evidently, he had not come from money, or if he had, calamity had befallen his family. Lon'qu felt a nudge of guilt, his conscience reminding him of how a measly five years earlier, he could have been that very boy, but he pushed it aside and focused on what he had to do. "Kill him," he thought, "All it takes is a little slip of the hand, a practiced move that you've learned years ago, and it's just another one of those practice dummies that you beat at with wooden swords seven years ago."

A sudden, blinding, flash – and he was lying flat on his back, momentarily stunned. The world spun around his head and his vision began to fade, fuzzy black dots from the corners of his eyes slowly beginning to infringe on his eyesight.

Before he lost all consciousness, Lon'qu heard a girl call his name.

* * *

A/N: Muhahahaha. Wonder what's up with Lon'qu's past?


	4. Chapter 4

Lon'qu blinked. How long had he been unconscious for? His vision blurred, and slowly a face swam into view. It was the girl from Shuo'li's mansion! He tried to sit up too quickly and a fuzzy blackness overcame his sight, and he was forced to lie back down again.

A few more seconds, and the nausea and dizziness had begun to fade, though he also gradually became aware of a dull aching pain in his sword hand. "Wha…what are you doing here?" Lon'qu forced the slurred words out of his mouth. He sounded like he was drunk. He hated it.

"Never mind that." The girl seemed preoccupied with some white binding cloth. "I need to treat your injuries."

"What injuries?" His head was starting to clear now, and the pain was getting sharper. Lon'qu glanced down at his fingers, and was startled to see them wrapped in layers and layers of gauze.

"I soaked the strips in ice water first," she said by way of explanation. "I think they weren't very severe burns, but they'll still blister and peel pretty painfully while they heal. What were you thinking, taking on a full blast elfire at such a close range?"

He tried to sit up again, this time with a little more success than before. Still, he toppled backwards again and was only stopped when the girl's hand steadied him. "Take it easy, will you?" she asked.

His mind was scattered, and he cast around, trying to remember what had happened. "The kid…what happened to him?"

"What kid?" the girl asked.

"The mage! You know, the one I was dueling. Before I got hit." Lon'qu added the last bit hastily, trying to clarify what he was talking about.

She shrugged. "Oh. Him. He just collected his prize money and got out of the arena faster than you can blink. I don't think I even saw him leave."

"Oh…" Lon'qu shook his head groggily, trying to clear his mind. "What are you doing here?" he repeated. Another thing occurred to him. "And how do you know my name?"

"Oh, I was just wandering around, here and there," she waved her arms around vaguely. "You know. Running errands, going to the marketplace, what have you. And you told me your name when we first met! Remember?"

He looked at her skeptically. "Actually, no, I don't. And you look far too flustered for somebody who is supposedly telling the truth. And what sort of errand brings you to the dueling arena? Only gamblers and fighters frequent this place."

"Well, too bad if you don't believe me, because that's the truth." She harrumphed and crossed her arms. "_And_ I never heard you thank me for dragging you out of the ring and forfeiting that duel on your behalf."

Lon'qu winced as he stood up. "You're right. Thanks. Now I'll be heading home." He turned to leave but abruptly halted as she yanked on his shirt, stopping him in his tracks.

"Hey! You didn't actually _mean_ that," she said, face scrunched up into a frown. "I went to all that trouble, running into the ring and risking my poor dainty little neck, and all I get is a 'Thanks but not really I don't even care what your name is'? How rude. And I ran into the arena with my injured ankle, too!"

Sharply meeting her gaze, Lon'qu bit back a retort and tried to reply gracefully. "Thank you. I really do mean it, and I appreciate that you went to all that effort to save my life. But I can manage on my own. I don't need someone to take care of me. To be honest, I don't really want to be your friend, but if you want to befriend me all that badly, you're going to have to start telling me the truth."

Lowering her voice to a softer tone so that Lon'qu had to lean forwards to hear her over the noise of the arena, the girl replied. "Let's go somewhere else. This isn't the best place to tell you that."

"I'm heading back home," Lon'qu replied stiffly. "I'm already late as it is, and I don't want –" he stopped abruptly. This girl didn't need to know about his mother. She didn't need to know anything. After all, she was the one who lied to him in the first place.

"Well, then, may I walk with you?" she replied.

He started, surprised. Lon'qu had not actually considered that she would be willing to accompany him to the slums. Thinking back to their past conversation, he reflected that perhaps she didn't know he lived in the slums. It was best if he got it out in the open first, rather than she follow him and be disillusioned later.

"I'm not sure if you want to. My home is in the slums."

"I know," she replied simply. She offered no explanation as to how she knew all these things about him. Typical of her, Lon'qu thought. It seemed as though he had acquired himself a stalker. He shivered, thinking about those long hours he had spent outside the mansion, listening to Ke'ri. This girl had been probably watching him while he had stood there, listening. If he hadn't been the one in this situation, he would have surely thought it was funny – while he had been creepily listening on Ke'ri, someone else had been creepily spying on him. The watcher had become the watched.

They walked back together in silence. He noticed how her footsteps were in time with his. For some reason, this annoyed him beyond belief, and he purposely altered his pace, trying to avoid falling back into sync with her.

A little while after they had passed a few villages and entered into the forests that separated the slums from the city, she spoke up. "So…" she began. "You probably want to know why I know so much about you, and I guess it's about time I told you the truth."

* * *

A/N: Midterms need to go away...haha. But I've been updating pretty consistently so yay for perseverance! :D Don't know if I want to try Nanowrimo though...Also, someone asked me if the mage was Ricken - I didn't even think about that possibility! But no, he's not.


	5. Chapter 5

Ke'ri had to admit, she had been a little surprised by her own forwardness.

When Lon'qu told her that he was heading back home, her mouth seemed to have opened on its own accord and she had made the request to walk back with him. She hadn't actually thought that he would be okay with it, but after she had acknowledged that his home was in the slums and reaffirmed her willingness to travel with him, he'd let her follow him. Either way, she thought with a shrug, he seemed pretty apathetic about her presence. If she didn't speak up soon, she had no doubt that they'd walk the entire way in complete silence.

She cleared her throat. "So…" she began. "You probably want to know why I know so much about you, and I guess it's about time I told you the truth."

But maybe not the whole truth, she reflected whilst modifying and editing a few details in the original story. She could tell him that later.

He nodded impassively, and she inwardly sighed. "It looks like it's going to be a pretty one-sided conversation…" Ke'ri thought to herself.

"I guess I should introduce myself first," she said, sticking out a hand. "My name is Yu'lin, and I'm a servant to Master Shuo'li."

Lon'qu glanced disdainfully at her hand, wrinkling his brow in a confused manner, and Ke'ri mentally berated herself. Of course he didn't know about shaking hands – that was a custom that she had picked up in Ylisse, during her travels with her father. Awkwardly placing the hand behind her back, she took a deep breath and continued onwards. "Anyways, as a servant in the mansion, you're easily ignored. I hear news of the latest battles, whisperings of political plots, and gossip about the emperor's court." She paused and took a peek at his eyes, trying to gauge what he was thinking. Stoic as ever, but he probably knew exactly where she was heading with this now.

He nodded, almost imperceptibly, telling her to go on.

"And because of this, I heard stories of your father, Guo'zhi."

No reaction whatsoever. Lon'qu stood stock still, and though she was certain he had heard her, he made no indication of that fact.

Ke'ri went onwards, heart beating rapidly. "The strongest soldier of the army. The emperor's most trusted warrior. The most courageous of the generals, loved by all his men. And then…" she hesitated.

"And then…" Lon'qu muttered softly beneath his breath to himself, so softly that Ke'ri thought she had imagined it.

The silence was so fragile that Ke'ri wanted to cry. She didn't want to break it, to say what had happened to Guo'zhi, to spoil the fantasy. But the moment passed and she whispered the truth, bringing the both of them crashing back to reality.

"And then he died."

Lon'qu bowed his head, and Ke'ri turned away from him to give him some privacy. An eternity passed, and then Lon'qu spoke.

"So you know."

"Yes, I know," Ke'ri breathed softly.

"The nobility and the councilmen treated my mother and I well at first. We were well housed, given money and food, and compensated handsomely in return for all the service he had done to Chon'sin. But as time passed, we were slowly forgotten."

Ke'ri winced.

"I was only nine – I could not have hoped to provide for both my mother and myself. We were forced to leave our home by our landlord, and the councilmen never even noticed."

Ke'ri wanted to shout out denials, that at least one consulate member had not forgotten Guo'zhi, had not forgotten his contribution to Chon'sin and his achievements on the battlefield, had not forgotten of the family that he had left behind. But then she would have revealed too much.

His voice had turned bitter. "And now, we are stuck in the slums, eking out an existence where we barely scrape by, struggling to pay rent every month for the miserable excuse of a house where we dwell."

She bowed her head, allowing her bangs to obscure her eyes. "I am sorry."

He laughed mirthlessly. "What are you sorry for? None of it was your fault. And there's nothing you can do about it." They had reached his house now, and he scuffled his feet in the dry dusty dirt. "Well, I guess you know the whole sorry story now. I hope you're happy."

Keeping her eyes fixed on her feet, Ke'ri fidgeted awkwardly, reluctant to leave. She didn't want their meeting to end like this. She wanted to comfort him, to help him. She looked up and opened her mouth to tell him that, but by the time she had decided on what she wanted to say, he had already turned and begun walking away.

"Hey!" she shouted, annoyed. "You didn't even give me a chance to say goodbye to you."

He didn't turn around, but she could hear his faint mumble of "Goodbye."

"Oh, okay, well if that's how it's going to be, goodbye!" she retorted, spinning sharply around on her heels. But she hadn't given up on him, not by a long shot. She would befriend the silent general's son, even if it took her until the stars fell from the sky.

* * *

A/N: I started Nanowrimo! Good thing I had this chapter pre-written, hehehe.


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